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   Friday, October 24th, 2025

Dear Shepardson Families,

We sure hope you had a wonderful long weekend/Fall Break last week! Thank you for your time and support during Academic Conferences, we truly value your input and partnership on behalf of your fifth grader. We have a lot of upcoming fun things planned so please read carefully to stay informed!

Read-A-Thon

Next Friday, 10/31 will be “party-central” at Shepardson. Costumes are to be based on book characters and may only include a mask during the parade at 9:15am but must be removed afterwards. Please remind students that their costumes cannot include weapons or gore. The school hosts a read-a-thon most of the day, so kids are encouraged to bring their favorite blanket, pillow/stuffed animal and a flashlight/headlamp to get COZY with their books! The fifth grade party will be at 3:00p until the end of the day. Thanks to the Room Parents for setting up the fun celebrations!

***We are planning to reward our students by watching the PG movie, “Holes,” next Friday. They have been listening to it as a read aloud and are loving it! It is a live-action movie on Disney+. If you prefer that your child not watch it, please let us know by Wed, 10/29. Students who opt out will participate in an alternate activity during the viewing.***

School of Choice

The application process will be opening up soon on Monday, 11/3! Make sure you check out which school is your neighborhood Middle School if you don’t already know: https://www.psdschools.org/school-resources/school-locator . Many middle schools have opportunities for 5th graders to shadow middle school students to experience the school in an authentic way and can help you decide on where to go. Here are some important dates and links to use:

• Mon., Nov. 3, 2025 – School of Choice online enrollment for K-12 students begins!

• Mon., Nov. 3 - Dec. 15, 2025– First-round school choice application period. Bookmark this page, where the school choice application will become available on Nov. 3rd. 

• Thurs., Nov. 6 - Lesher Open House & Curriculum Night, 6:00-7:30p 

• Wed., Nov. 12 - Boltz Open House, 5:00-7:00p 

Field Trips: Fifth Grade will be going to Boltz Middle School for their electives showcase on Tues, 11/11, 9:15-11:00a. Those permission slips will be coming home soon for you to sign.

Reading: In Unit 2, we have been discussing metaphors in our reading of Esperanza Rising. This work has included identifying them and understanding their meaning so we can continue the work of identifying themes that are present in this story. Be sure to ask them where in the story arc we currently are (Rising Action) and why. I’d love for them to be able to explain this to you. We also continue to work on written responses to reading by answering comprehension questions for practice. 

Writing: This week we have been writing paragraphs about how characters in Esperanza Rising react to various events. Students have done an amazing job including topic sentences, evidence from the text with reasoning and a strong concluding sentence. We also took some time to write poems about falling leaves to practice metaphors, synonyms and antonyms. 

Math: This week we have been reviewing multi-digit multiplication and finding which strategy works best for them to better understand how multiplying numbers works. We demonstrated our understanding of the concept on posters to show previous learning. Soon we will include decimals in multiplication; stay tuned! As always, the class slideshows are on the math learning page!

PBL: We have officially kicked off our Fall Problem Based Learning unit on Horsetooth Reservoir. We are addressing the question, “How can we keep Horsetooth Reservoir safe, clean, and enjoyable for everyone? If you’re an expert or connected to the park or water quality, we’d love to have you share your expertise with our fifth graders! Stay tuned for more!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

Fifth Grade Team

Upcoming Events:

Monday, October 27th- Thursday, October 30th- Lockdown Drill Week 

Friday, October 31st - Read-A-Thon Book Character Costume Parade & class party

Thursday, November 6th -  Rollerland Night, 5-8p

Tuesday, November 11th - Boltz Elective Showcase 9:30-11:30a (PERMISSION SLIP)

Thursday, November 13th - STEM Night @ Shepardson! 5:30-7:30p

Monday, November 24th - Friday, November 28th - Thanksgiving Break!